Dentsu Communications appoints Suresh Mohankumar as national planning head

Mohankumar moves in from Mudra India where he served as senior vice-president, and head of planning for Mudra South.

Dentsu India Group has appointed Suresh Mohankumar as national planning head, Dentsu Communications.

He will be based in the agency's Bengaluru office. His mandate includes leading strategic planning and brand management at Dentsu Communications across its New Delhi and Bengaluru offices.

Mohankumar moves in from Mudra India where he served as senior vice-president and head of planning for Mudra South.

On his appointment, Mohankumar says, "The communications business is at a crossroads as convention increasingly gives way to real consumer engagement. That integration and media-neutral planning is the way forward is what Dentsu believes in, and I believe that it is uniquely structured to deliver that."

Rohit Ohri, executive chairman, Dentsu India, adds, "Mohankumar, as part of the leadership team of Dentsu Communications, has the right combination of passion, talent and commitment to partner our creative and account management teams to take our creative product to the next level."

Taira Kimura, chief operating officer, Dentsu Communications, conveys, "Mohankumar brings on board strong experience across brands, categories and regions. I have confidence in his expertise to add value to our service deliveries."

A commerce graduate, Mohankumar brings with him nearly two decades of industry experience. After completing his MBA with a dual specialisation in Marketing and Finance from T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) in 1993, Mohankumar started his advertising career in the account management department at R K Swamy BBDO, Chennai.

Over the next seven years, he worked with agencies such as Contract Advertising and Lowe in Bengaluru. In the year 2000, when he decided to switch to the account planning function, Mohankumar moved to Mudra Chennai. It was his experience while working on Tanishq's 'karatmeter' campaign that motivated him to become a strategic planner, he says.  

As a strategic planner, he then worked with agencies such as Contract Advertising and JWT in Chennai.

Some of the brands he was worked on through his career include Tanishq, BPL, Ford, Volkswagen, Carbon, MRF, Lotte, TI cycles, Henkel, Fa, Reynolds, McDowell's, Johnson & Johnson, and Lipton.